Introduction

This is a collection for class INFO 265, Young Adult Literature. The mini collection was compiled with the community I work in, in mind. That is the Northeast Los Angeles area and the Los Angeles Public Library System is the library system I am connected to.  The Northeast LA community consists of the following neighborhoods: Atwater Village, Cypress Park, Eagle Rock, El Sereno, Garvanza, Glassell Park, Highland Park, Hermon, Lincoln Heights, Montecito Heights, Monterey Hills, and Mount Washington, and others. According to the American Community Survey and the City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning, this community holds about 243,925 residents. The racial and ethnic breakdown is Latino, 64%, White, 16.7%, Asian, 16.5%; Black, 1.8%, Native American 0.5%, Pacific Islander 0.4%, and Other, 0.8%. The median household income is $54,000. This community is very diverse some neighborhoods mostly middle class while others mostly working class. The teenage population is at around 21,000 and mostly attend the Los Angeles Unified School District (Edweek, 2019). 

There are studies that urban teens are not visiting the libraries as much and to quote work from Agosto, when interviewing young urban teens, many felt libraries were outdated institutions (Agosto et al, 2016).  As I worked on my mini blog collection, I thought also of my teen daughter (who happens to be an urban teen herself) and how the work of the librarian is to meet the teens and young adults where they are at.  To innovate  our institutions, to engage them, inviting school systems and teachers, and most especially the young adults in this endeavor, while also learning what is the work of being a trauma informed librarian. To quote Nisha Mody, meeting students where they are at and how trauma can  deeply affects everyone, which is informed by systemic and personal trauma.  (Infobase, 2021) Figuring out ways to connect more especially in these times of COVID and things changing rapidly how else we must innovate to pivot and re-engage populations that may need more support. A question also asked by Coach Nisha (who is a librarian herself), what opportunities are we giving student (young adults) to provide feedback and voice concerns? How is our library a place of social connection? How is our library a not so quiet, space?  The population I am serving is diverse therefore offering titles from different backgrounds in order for them to see themselves on the page and learn from other cultures as well is my mission, while asking myself what else must we do to re-engage in these times and with a trauma informed lens. 

Agosto et al (2016) Teens, Technology and Libraries: An Uncertain Relationship. 86(3), 248-269. https://doi.org/10/1086/686673

Demographic Profile (2017) City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning Northeast Los Angeles Change  Retrived from  Demographic Profile 

Riser-Kositsky, M. (2019)Education Statistics: Facts About American Schools. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/leadership/education-statistics-facts-about-american-schools/2019/01

Infobase (2021) Trauma Informed Librarianship: Interview with Healing Coach Nisha Mody, Retrieved from  https://www.infobase.com/blog/featured/trauma-informed-librarianship-interview-with-healing-coach-nisha-mody/

Learning English

Title: VOA Learning English

Format: Database

Creator: VOA Learning English

Site: Learning English 




Summary:

Learning English is VOA’s multimedia source of news and information for millions of English learners worldwide.

Learning English began as Special English, which Voice of America launched in 1959. Special English newscasts and features were a primary fixture of VOA’s international shortwave broadcasts for more than half a century. In 2014, our line of products was expanded to include more English teaching materials, and the service became known as Learning English.(about, nd)

Source: https://learningenglish.voanews.com/p/5373.html

Critical Evaluation:
Learning English has different levels to learning, there's Level 1 and Level 2 programs, with an Ask a Teacher interface. There are videos, explaining the usage the usage of words. In intermediate level there are audio programs and captioned videos. Alluded to in the site, the programs are read slower than normal reading speed, and there's an advance level where learners in this level learn idioms and expressions, with Words and Their Stories. There is many resources in this site and a pretty robust social media presence. You need to register, log in to ask a teacher, which are certified English teachers.
It's an amazing resources for English learners who are comfortable navigating online, and as for American teenagers today and for the last 15 years or so have shown us, they are the most comfortable navigating online. This website has videos, how to pronounce audio interface, English at The Movies and English in a Minute (for popular idioms), in addition to tests to see where one is in the language learning curve. It is a multi layered interface that seems to get much traffic.

Challenge Issues:
N/A

Why I Chose It
For the English learning teens, which in the US there are many, most especially in Los Angeles Unified School District where I live and work. According to the LAUSD, 2020-2021 information, there was a total of 86,410 English Language Learners enrolled in LAUS. 

Source: LAUSD Open Data, Student Demographics Retrieved from https://my.lausd.net/opendata/dashboard#

Driving Tests

 

Title: Driving Tests

Creator: Elegant E-learning 

Format: Database 

Site: https://driving-tests.org/


Summary:

Driving Tests helps users pass their driving tests by providing exam simulations, engaging practice tests, receive driver's manual, to ultimately help the users pass their driving test. (about, nd)

source: https://driving-tests.org/

Critical Evaluation:

Firstly, I learned about these sites through my teen daughter who has been taking practice driving exams online. This resource is one used by young people as they are preparing to take their driving tests, and being they are online and have such an ability to navigate online, with a user-friendly site such as this one, it has the necessary interfaces to make it one that is resourceful.

There are levels to the interface, from easy to hardest,  helping get comfortable with the parts of the exam they find most challenging.  There are quizzes that have the answers if you get a wrong, so that you may have a better chance at remembering and getting it right the next time around. The more practice, the likelier one will remember. There’s also a feedback component based on the answer/questions that user may be needing more help in. 

Challenge Issues: 

N/A

Why I Included: 

For teens learning to drive, this is a great resource and applicable to the age range, again for those interested in driving soon. 

EBSCOhost

Title EBSCOhost

Creator EBSCO Industries, Inc.

Format database

Website: www.ebsco.com

Summary

EBSCOhost is an intuitive online research platform used by thousands of institutions and millions of users worldwide. With quality databases and search features, EBSCOhost helps researchers of all kinds find the information they need fast.

Critical Evaluation

EBSCOhost has mobile access, can be customized such as search limiters and expanders, language preferences, print options, link options, citations assistance, peer review content, ability to save searches and results and access to high quality articles. It is recognized by library professionals, there's access to academic libraries, public libraries, corporations, schools, health care, and publishers reputable information. To access, one must be part of an academic institution or in a public library, or have access to the database through a library card. You must also be comfortable navigating the database and research, so in terms of access, this is in and of itself can be an inaccessible point for many. Not very accessible to many due to not knowing about it and or not being aware that having a library card, gives you access, and since many young people aren't going to libraries these days, it's not easy to make it accessible.

About the organization

EBSCO is the leading provider of research databases, e-journals, magazine subscriptions, e-books and discovery service to libraries of all kinds. For more than 70 years, we've partnered with libraries to improve research with quality content and technology.

Challenge issues

N/A

Why I chose this database
It's an important asset, and it has access to a lot of good journals and other reputable information for research. Young people who are college bound (which everyone should be if that is what they want) as they get ready for college and begin researching, this database is one that getting familiar with it and learning research tools, will prove handy to be skillful in.

Drake

Title: Take Care

Artist: Drake 

Release date: November 15, 2011

Genre: Hip hop, R & B, Pop

Label: Young Money; Cash Money: Republic

Summary:

Take Care, the second studio album by  Drake, Canadian rapper. It was released  by Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records and Republic Records. The album features guest appearances from The Weeknd, Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, Birdman, Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, and André 3000. 

Critical Evaluation: 

Drake as an artist wears his heart on his sleeve. The intimacy his songs connote, as if he's telling you his life just for you to know, from the details of time and place, moments.  Quoting, a review of his album, 10 years later, Complex shares "and if Drake’s entire catalog is a journal of his innermost thoughts, fears, and confessions, then his sophomore album, Take Care, includes some of his most honest entries." (Complex, November 15, 2021). In this album he is known for oversharing, 10 years later this album still stands strong and popular among different age ranges, including teenagers who were 5-8 years of age around the time this album came out.  

Source: https://www.complex.com/music/drake-take-care-songs-ranked/

Listener Annotation

Want to listen to classic hip hop about tenderness, sadness, money, featuring many hip hop artists? Check Take Care out. 

About the Artist

Drake first came to prominence in the teen soap Degrassi: The Next Generation in the role of Jimmy Brooks, a wheelchair-bound character he played for seven years. After leaving the show he became one of the biggest rappers on the planet after signing a deal with Lil Wayne's label Young Money Entertainment. He is rarely out of the headlines, whether it’s for dating Rihanna or Jennifer Lopez, founding his own label, OVO Sound, or fronting the NBA’s Toronto Raptors as the team's global ambassador. It's no surprise that Jay Z labeled him as the Kobe Bryant of hip hop.


Born Aubrey Drake Graham on October 24, 1986, in Toronto, Canada, Drake grew up with music in his blood. His father, Dennis Graham, was a drummer for the legendary rock 'n' roll star Jerry Lee Lewis. An uncle, Larry Graham, played bass for Sly and the Family Stone. Drake says that his mother, Sandi Graham, also hails from a "very musical" family — his grandmother babysat Aretha Franklin. Drake comes from an eclectic and unique ethnic and religious background. His father is an African American Catholic and his mother is a white Canadian Jew. Speaking about his personal identity, Drake says: "At the end of the day, I consider myself a Black man because I'm more immersed in Black culture than any other. Being Jewish is kind of a cool twist. It makes me unique."


Source: https://www.biography.com/musician/drake

Why I Included the Album

Young people love him. 

Olivia Rodrigo

Title: Sour

Artist: Olivia Rodrigo

Producers:  Dan Nigro

Release Date: May 21, 2021 

Publisher/Label: Geffen Records 

Genres: Pop; Punk

Format: Compact Disc

Summary

“Sour” is an album about accepting alternate endings, and embracing who you become when you have to hot swap one idea about yourself for another all while keeping up a smile, or a career, or several. .(NYT, 2021) An album filled Gen Z specific tracks, with titles of songs such as "Hope Ur Ok" and "Good 4 U" and references to social media such as "Jealousy, Jealousy." 

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/21/arts/music/olivia-rodrigo-sour-review.html

Critical Evaluation:

Sour is Olivia Rodrigo's debut album. These are the titles of her tracks: brutal, traitor, drivers liscense, one step forward three steps back, good for u, deja vu, happier, enough for u, favorite crime, hope ur ok, and jealousy, jealousy. She was once a Disney actress in  High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. Like many teen female pop stars many of the songs are about love and heartbreak.

 
From time immemorial these songs are popular in young people, teenagers specifically and those in their early 20s. As a 40 year - old this album may not be congruent to my life, priorities and worldviews but I see why it's popular among young people. She has a way of engaging her music as if she's in an intimate conversation and you're getting an in on the details. Many individuals into her music, may have very well seen her in High School Musical: The Musical, and now engaging with these now older teens, her age or a little younger with music that they can relate to, connoting social media world and multiple identities. Her cover art in Sour, as Teen Vogue puts it, is playful and Gen Z, with a "fuzzy pale pink tank top and checkered bottoms. The stars of the show (some quite literally) are undoubtedly the stickers that cover her face (Lisa Frank, who?), especially the ones placed on her sticked-out tongue reading “Sour.” (Teen Vogue, April, 14, 2021) 

Source: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/olivia-rodrigo-sour-album-tracklist-peak-storytelling

Listener Annotation: High School Musical (Nini), Olivia Rodrigo debut album on heartbreak.

About the Artist:
Olivia Isabel Rodrigo was born on February 20, 2003 in Murrieta, California. Rodrigo grew up in Temecula, California, with her parents: Jennifer, a teacher, and Chris, a family and marriage therapist. When Olivia was a child, her mother introduced her to alternative rock such as No Doubt, the White Stripes and Smashing Pumpkins.

Rodrigo showed an early affinity for music. At the age of 5, she started singing lessons; she was soon competing in local contests and talent shows. She was also writing songs at a young age. When she was 15, Rodrigo landed a starring role as Nini Salazar-Roberts on "High School Musical: The Musical: The Series." In addition to acting, she continued to write her own songs. "I Am More," which she shared on Instagram, led to the show asking her to compose a song for her "HSM:TM:TS" character.

Rodrigo performed the resulting ballad, "All I Want," when she was 16. It became a hit for "HSM:TM:TS" and also charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2020.

Source: https://www.biography.com/musician/olivia-rodrigo

Challenge Issues: Cursing; Sexuality

Defense: Library Bill of Rights and the Los Angeles County Library Collections Policy.

Why I Included: Olivia Rodrigo is a well known artist. My daughter told me about her and said all her classmates love her.

Taylor Swift

Title: Fearless (Taylor's Version) 

Artist: Taylor Swift

Producers:  Christopher Rowe and Taylor Swift 

Release Date: April 9, 2021 

Genre: Pop, country music, rock

Publisher/Label: Universal Republic Records 

Format: Compact Disc

Summary

Fearless is the 2nd studio album by Taylor Swift and re-recorded April 9, 2021. The rerecording of Fearless (Taylor’s Version), features 26 songs, including six previously unreleased ones. Her album Fearless won Album of the Year at the County Music Association Awards and the Academy of County Music Awards in 2009. In 2010, it won Album of the Year and Best County Album, at the Grammy. 

Fearless Youtube video: ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lLigiVgJsE

Critical Evaluation

In listening to the album, the music conjures emotional reactions with references to the past, and pulls on nostalgia and bitter sweetness. She has been vocal about artist's rights, as told in this People article. The re recording of  "You Belong With Me" "Love Story" or "Fifteen" sound basically the same. For those that have listened to Taylor Swift either in the periphery or a fan, it is a time warp/time travel, and the mention of  specific ages, connoting how time goes on, memory, and nostalgia Swift has a talent for this, pulling on nostalgia on recent events one could argue.  even when what she was nostalgic for seemed like it must have happened last week. A great question posed,  is whether she unwittingly building a time-hopping narrative around her work not unlike the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and if so, how does Tom Hiddleston factor into all this? (Spin, 2021)

Source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/taylor-swift-releases-first-re-recorded-album-fearless-4163701/

Source: https://www.spin.com/2021/04/taylor-swifts-fearless-taylors-version-review/

Listener’s Annotation

A collection of  mostly love songs, nostalgic pop/country. 

Artist Info:

Taylor Alison Swift is a multi-Grammy award-winning American singer/songwriter who, in 2010 at the age of 20, became the youngest artist in history to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. In 2011 Swift was named Billboard's Woman of the Year. She also has been named the American Music Awards Artist of the Year, as well as the Entertainer of the Year for both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music, among many other accolades. As of this writing, she is also the top-selling digital artist in music history.

Source: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2357847/bio

Why I Included This In My Selection

She is loved by many in this age range